4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


Homeschool: The Fastest Growing Trend in Education


improves the family’s bottom line. Some parents spend so much time dropping off and picking up their children at different schools that it is difficult for them to be productive. One parent was quoted in an article as saying that she saves four hours of commuting time by homeschooling her children.


Children who are homeschooled can spend as little as four hours a day on their lessons and use the rest of the day for extracurricular activities like art, music and sports. With homeschooling, parents are more in control of their child’s schedule.


Most school systems post BY ANGELA JONES


As families prepare for the first day of school, many school-age children will remain at home to receive their lessons. In North Carolina, there are more children being homeschooled than


there are enrolled


school. For a variety school


teachers


in private of reasons,


doctors, lawyers and even former public


are One reason parents deciding


to give their children a less formal education at home. The benefits of homeschooling are endless.


say they


homeschool their children is because they can receive a quality education at home without the cost of expensive private


school tuition. With the


assistance of the internet, a homeschool education could be better than a private school education. The internet can be especially useful for high school students taking more difficult subjects such as calculus and physics.


Because colleges like


Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University offer lectures for most of their classes online for free, parents do not have to be geniuses to homeschool their children. These classes not only provide valuable information but most of them are not too difficult for devoted high school students to follow.


To many parents time is money and any time they can save time, it


curriculums on their websites. Parents should ensure that their children are receiving instruction on the materials that are required for their child’s grade level and research applicable homeschool guidelines for each state. YouTube, Google and educational bookstores are all good resources to find information on subjects included in posted curriculums. Khan Academy is an online source for learning about a variety admitted


of subjects. Bill


while homeschooling his Khan Academy


When homeschooled students Gates


using khanacademy.org children.


covers numerous


subjects for students in grades K-12 and college in a comprehensive and easy to understand manner.


are they are able to


remain in the nurturing environment of their family unit. This promotes self-esteem. They are not made to feel like an outsider or a “minority.” Homeschooled children are also less likely to be bullied than children who attend conventional schools.


When I speak about homeschooling, I am speaking from firsthand experience. I homeschooled my child from first grade through high school. People often ask “How did your child get socialization skills?” Well, school is the last place I would want my child to develop socialization skills. Children should not be in school to socialize. There are many other places children can learn


social skills that are more


appropriate, such as, playgrounds, parks and church outings.


received


My child a full


scholarship, up to $100,000, to attend any college.


As


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Rae Willis, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer


PO Box 10414 ● Norfolk, VA 23513


Sales and Information 757-575-1863 info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com


Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


a college junior at one of the best engineering schools in the country, my child has a 4.0 grade point average in computer


science.


This computer science


curriculum


includes subjects like calculus and physics. My child is on track for a very bright future—a future provided by the grace of God and the wonderful experience homeschool.


of


Volume 9 Number 12 10 Years Later FROM PAGE 1


for one and $950 for two. CNN/Money recently named New Orleans as one of the worst cities in the U.S. for renters. Before


Katrina the average renter


spent 19 percent of income on rent. The Data Center, a terrific resource for information on the region, reports 37 percent of renters in New Orleans now spend more than 50 percent of their income to rent. Rental apartments are mostly substandard as well with 78 percent, nearly 50,000 apartments, in the city needing major repairs.


children


38: In 2005, 38 percent of the in New Orleans lived in


poverty, 17 percentage points higher than the U.S. as a whole. The most recent numbers show 39 percent of the children in New Orleans live in poverty, still 17 percentage points higher


than the national average.


Eighty-two percent of these families have someone working in the family so the primary cause is low wages.


44: New Orleans now has 44 school boards. Prior to Katrina, nearly all the public schools in New Orleans were overseen by the one Orleans Parish School


Board. are


percent of the public schools in New Orleans


now charter


the highest rate in the country. Only 32 percent of African Americans believe


Ninety-one schools,


the new nearly all-charter


school system is better than the public school system before the storm versus 44 percent of whites, even though precious few whites attend the public schools.


50: Fifty percent of the Black


children in New Orleans live in poor households, a higher percentage than when Katrina hit.


59: New Orleans is now 59 percent


African-American, down from 66.7 percent in 2000; 31 percent white, up from 26 percent in 2000; and 5.5 percent Hispanic, up from three percent in 2000.


67: Prior to Katrina, New Orleans


incarcerated more of its citizens than any city in the U.S., five times the national


average. Ongoing efforts


by community members and local officials have reduced the number of people held in the jail by 67 percent.


73: Seventy-three percent of New


Orleans students who start high school graduate on time.


3,221: There fewer low-income


are now 3,221 public


housing


apartments in New Orleans than when Katrina hit. In 2005 there were 5,146 low-income public housing apartments in New Orleans, plus thousands of other public housing apartments scheduled for renewal or maintenance, nearly 100 percent African-American occupied. The housing authority now reports having 1,925 public housing apartments available for low-income people on the sites of the demolished complexes, less than half of the number promised, and less than half of those completed have rents set at rates that are affordable to those who lived in public housing before Katrina, meaning the majority of their public housing units now require higher incomes from renters than the people who were living in public housing


August 2015


prior to Katrina. That is why only about half of the families who lived in the four public housing developments which were demolished after Katrina made it back to New Orleans at all by 2011. And only 7 percent of those original families were living in the new housing which replaced their homes.


6,000: There are 6,000 fewer


people on Social Security in Orleans Parish than before the storm. Orleans Parish had 26,654 people on Social Security, either old age or disability, in 2004. Orleans Parish had 20,325 people on Social Security in the latest report. There are similar drops in the numbers of people on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in New Orleans. There were just over 3,000 families receiving state temporary assistance in New Orleans in May 2005. As of May 2015, that number was down to 463.


7,500: Over 7,500 public school teachers and paraprofessionals, mostly African American, were fired after Katrina when Louisiana took over the New Orleans public school system. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal in May 2015.


9,000: There are 9,000 fewer


families receiving food stamps than before. Supplemental


Nutrition


Assistance Program (SNAP) is the old food stamps program. In May 2015, Orleans Parish had just under 40,000 households receiving SNAP benefits. In May 2005, New Orleans had 49,000 households receiving food stamps.


17,392: There are 17,392 fewer


children enrolled in public schools in New Orleans now than before Katrina. There


35,451: The median


were over 63,000 enrolled pre-Katrina and now there are 45,608.


income


for white families in New Orleans is $60,553; that is $35,451 more than for Black families whose median income was $25,102. In the last 10 years the median income for Black families grew by 7 percent. At the same time, the median income for white families grew three times as fast, by 22 percent. In 2005, the median income for Black households was $23,394, while the median


for white households was


$49,262. By 2013, the median income for Black households had grown only slightly, to $25,102. But the median for white households had jumped to $60,553.


44,516: The New Orleans metro


area (Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany Parishes) has 44,516 more Hispanic residents in 2013 than in 2000. The total is now 103,061, just over eight percent of metro population according to The Data Center.


71,000: Seventy-one thousand


fewer people live in New Orleans now than before the storm. In 2005, New Orleans had a population of 455,000 and in 2014 its population was 384,000.


African billion


99,650: There are 99,650 fewer Americans


living in New


Orleans now than in 2000, compared to 11,000 fewer whites.


71,000,000,000: Seventy-one dollars was received by the


State of Louisiana for Katrina repairs, rehabilitation and rebuilding. One look at this index and you see who did NOT get the money.


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